When Alex Massolini's brother is killed in Vietnam, he drops out of Columbia and leaves his family behind for Capri, Italy, to become secretary to world-famous writer Rupert Grant. Alex quickly finds himself ensnared in a web of love affairs, friendships, and rivalries within the eccentric community that inhabits the idyllic, isolated island. Among that group are the selfish, cunning, and brilliant Grant; his charming and sophisticated wife Vera; Holly and Marisa, Grant's mysterious research assistants, the young philosophy student from the Sorbonne, Patrice LaRue; and Father Aurelio, who is desperate for parishioners. Alex stumbles upon startling intrigues and secrets, while trying to balance the demands of others with his own nascent desires. Told with wry humour in an elegant prose style, THE APPRENTICE LOVER is a remarkable piece of fiction that includes appearances by such colourful literary figures as Graham Greene and W H Auden.